Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 15A > Chapter 7 - Prohibited and Permissible Activities in Connection With Adoption

• Agency: means the Department or a child-placing public or private entity that is licensed in this State to place minors for adoption. See
• Child: means a minor or an adult son or daughter, by birth or adoption. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Court: means the court with jurisdiction over the proceeding. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Guardian: means a person, other than a parent, appointed by a court to act as a parent for another individual and specifically authorized by the Court to place the individual for adoption. See
• Identifying information: means any information which might establish the current whereabouts of an adoptee, the adoptee's former parent or other family member, including full name, date and place of birth, and last known address. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Minor: means a person who has not attained 18 years of age. See
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Parent: means a person who is legally recognized as a mother or father or whose consent to the adoption of a minor is required under subdivision 2-401(a)(1)-(4) or (6) of this title. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Psychiatric disability: means an impairment of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that limits one or more major life activities but does not include intellectual disability. See
• Relinquishment: means the voluntary surrender to an agency by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes of the minor's adoption, of the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to the minor, including legal and physical custody of the minor. See
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Support: means periodic payments ordered for the support of dependent children or, for the purposes of sections 783-790 of this title only, a spouse. See
• Support order: means any judgment, order or contract for support enforceable in this state, including, but not limited to, orders issued pursuant to 15 Vt. See